Lapis World Tour
by thekittydid
Summary: Steven shows Lapis Lazuli around Beach City. A request by tomorrowwoman on Tumblr. I may expand on this in the future, but for now I consider it complete.


Lapis World Tour

Steven Universe sat on the edge of the beach outside his house, listening to the waves and closing his eyes every time the warm summer breeze blew soft ocean spray on his face. The weather was beautiful, but Steven's heart felt heavy. The gems had gone out last night to search for Malachite again, and they still hadn't come back. He'd begged to go with them – after his dreams the other night, his search for Lapis felt so much more urgent, so desperate – but Garnet put her foot down, insisting he stay behind.

 _You need to rest,_ she told him. _You're a Crystal Gem, and we know you want to help. But you're a human, too. Humans need to rest. Next time._

Sighing, Steven picked up a nearby twig and slouched, drawing lines in the sand. To the Crystal Gems, he was a human, but to other humans he was a Crystal Gem. Which one was it? Where did he fit in?

Glancing down at his sand art, he saw a crudely-drawn image of Lapis Lazuli's face staring back at him. She looked almost sad. To the Crystal Gems, she was a Homeworld gem, but to other Homeworld gems she was a traitor. She didn't fit in either. Maybe she was just as confused as he was.

Steven sighed again and flopped backward onto the sand, sprawling his arms and legs out. He stared up at the sky, watching the passing clouds.

"…I hope you're okay, Lapis." He mumbled to himself, closing his eyes. The sounds of the surf lulled him, a small token of comfort on a lonely day. He wondered if he'd fall asleep and dream of Lapis again. He wondered if those dreams were even real. He wondered how his dreams with Lapis could feel so close to reality but still end with him waking up at home.

He wondered, and slept.

Steven woke to the sounds of the waves that lulled him to sleep and he sat up with a yawn and a stretch. His hadn't dreamed, but felt a sense of relief at the thought. Lapis seemed really afraid the last time he saw her. She told him to leave her alone. Maybe it was for the best.

Rubbing his eyes, he glanced down at his picture from earlier, and felt his resolve grow. "No!" He puffed indignantly, "We have to keep looking for her! Lapis isn't a bad guy, she needs our help! She-!"

The words on his tongue trailed away from him as he looked up at the shore and saw a figure, collapsed before the waves. Blue hair, blue skin, blue dress…

"She's…on the beach…"

Gasping loudly, Steven let out a yell and took off for the shore, kicking up plumes of sand and dust as he flung himself to Lapis's still body. He skid to a stop on his knees and looked her over. She looked peaceful, cradled by the sand as she slept, or at least appeared to sleep. Steven could almost hear Pearl in the back of his mind: _Gems don't need sleep, Steven._

"Lapis?" He asked cautiously, reaching out to touch her shoulder. His hand didn't faze through. He wasn't waking up. This was real. She was real.

"Lapis, wake up!" He cried, and shook her shoulders. She woke with a start, scrambling to an upright position. Her eyes were wild, scanning the beach until her eyes fell on the bewildered boy at her feet.

"St…Steven?!" She wailed, leaping to her feet. "Steven, what are y…where…" She looked up at the sky, turning around to face Beach City, reaching up in horror to cover her mouth. "I…wh-where am I?!"

"Lapis! You're okay!" Steven cried, launching himself at her waist, hugging her. "Oh man, I was so worried! I kept having these really weird dreams, and Garnet's always out looking for you, and Jasper, and, and, and—"

"Let me go!" Lapis shouted, shoving Steven away from her. "This…this can't be happening. How am I here?! Why am I not at the bottom of the ocean?! WHERE IS JASPER?"

"I dunno." Steven replied with a simple shrug. "I was napping on the beach and when I woke up, you were here. Did the Crystal Gems find you?"

"I-I don't know!" Lapis cried, gripping the sides of her hair. "I don't know what's going on! I was…everything was fine, I was keeping Jasper away from you, and now I'm here and I don't know where she is!"

She whirled back around, staring Steven down. "Steven…I have to go back. I have to find Jasper and fuse with her again, it's the only thing that's keeping your planet safe!"

Steven hopped back to his feet. "No, no no! That's not true! Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, they can help you! I can help you! We're all gems too! They probably already beat Jasper if you're here!"

"Y…you think so? No." Lapis replied, shaking her head. "No, that's impossible. Jasper is powerful, Steven. She's more powerful than anything I've ever seen before! There's no way anyone could have—"

"They had to have!" Steven cried defiantly. He grabbed Lapis's hand and whirled her around to face the ocean. "I mean, look! Do you see anything bad out there? If Jasper escaped, Beach City would be in huge trouble, right?"

"…Right." Lapis mumbled.

"Do you see anything out there?"

"No, but—"

Steven turned her around to face Beach City.

"How about in town?"

"Steven, just because nothing's happening right now doesn't mean—"

"Doesn't it? You said so yourself, Jasper is super powerful! If she got free, she'd be after me and you and the other gems, right? And we're all here. Do you see her anywhere?"

The two fell quiet as Lapis scanned the town. Her shoulders began to relax. Beach City looked completely peaceful. Jasper was nowhere to be found, it seemed.

"…No." Lapis whispered. "No, I don't see her anywhere. But that doesn't mean she's not alive!"

Steven smiled. Pearl always got uppity like this when she knew he was right. It meant he was winning. "Well, why don't we go look around town to make sure? I can show you around, and you can meet all my friends!"

Lapis narrowed her eyes at the small town, squeezing Steven's hand. "...What happened to her?"

"Come on!" Steven cheered, dragging Lapis toward the boardwalk. "Let's go!"

Lapis squawked in resistance, but quietly relented as Steven pulled her toward town. Judging from the stubborn determination in his voice, there was really no use in arguing.

"This is The Big Donut." Steven explained as he showed her the tiny shop. "You can tell cuz there's a Big Donut on the front."

Lapis stared uncertainly at the building before her. While relatively unfamiliar with human life, she felt safe in assuming the giant circular structure perched atop the building's roof was most likely the "donut" in question. Her brow furrowed, eyeing the donut with skepticism.

"And humans eat those? They're so big."

"Regular donuts aren't that big." Steven explained. "Theeeeey're _this_ big!" Beaming, Steven produced a bag, holding it up for Lapis to see. He opened it up and pulled out a single donut, smothered in chocolate frosting and sprinkles. "I ran inside while you were staring at the Big Donut's big donut."

"Oh…thank you." Lapis mumbled, taking the treat. It was sticky. "Um…so you just eat it?"

"Uh-huh! Pearl says gems don't need to eat but Amethyst does it all the time so I think it's okay. Try it!" Without further ceremony, Steven extracted a second donut from his bag and shoved it into his mouth, beaming from ear to ear as he gobbled away.

Lapis studied him with distaste before turning her attention back to her own donut. She looked it over again, pulling off a small piece, and carefully placed it on her tongue, closing her mouth around it. Chewing thoughtfully, she smiled. "It's good!" She cried. "Oh wow, I really like it! It…what is this? What's going on in my mouth?"

"Huh? Ohhh, you must mean taste!" Steven celebrated. "You're tasting the donut! It's sweet! Sweet is good!"

"It's _very_ good!" Lapis laughed, and followed Steven's footsteps, shoving the remainder of the donut into her mouth. She moaned and laughed, her mouth full of cake. "Wow!"

Steven laughed, too. "I know, right?"

The pair laughed together, their heads high. As their chuckles died down, Lapis returned her gaze back to the Big Donut. "I think I remember this place." She admitted suddenly. "You took me here, when I was in the mirror. There were two humans. That was how I learned your name."

"Oh yeah, Lars and Sadie! They both work here. You remember that?"

Lapis balled her hands into gentle fists, her face hardened. "I remember everything from when I was in that mirror." She muttered, her tone acidic.

"…Why were you in that mirror, anyway?" Steven asked. Lapis turned away from him.

"I don't want to talk about it." She hissed.

Steven took a step back, but nodded. "Oh. Okay. Uhhhhhhh oh I know why don't we try more food?! There's tons of food places around here!"

Wrapping her arms around herself, Lapis stared at the Big Donut before turning to face Steven. "…Are all human foods sweet like donuts?"

"What?! No way!" Steven yelled, grabbing her hand again. "There's all sorts of flavors! There's sweet, sour, spicy, salty—"

"That's a lot of s-words."

"…You know? You're right. But come on!" He shouted, pulling her further down the boardwalk, chanting as they ran, "More food! More food! More food! More food!"

Lapis followed quietly.

"And that's why I don't eat sour foods anymore." Steven concluded, finishing up his bag of fry bits. The pair had paused along the boardwalk to eat fries and watch the sun set. They'd been running around all day buying all sorts of crazy things to eat and drink. Lapis felt full to bursting; she wasn't sure how Steven had managed to eat as much as she did, if not more.

"But what did the buffalos have to do with anything?" She asked, leaning on the edge of the fence."

"That's a story for another day." Steven explained, tossing their garbage into the nearest bin. He climbed up the fencing and plopped down on top of it, swinging his legs as he and Lapis enjoyed the sights of the sky and the ocean. "I'm really happy you're okay, Lapis." He told her softly. "I was really worried about you."

Setting her jaw, Lapis lowered her head. "You shouldn't have been. I was fine, everything was fine. I still don't remember what happened. How did I wind up here?" She looked back out at the sea. "And where is Jasper?"

"Maybe she and the other gems are still fighting." Steven explained. "They went out looking for you guys last night."

"And they're still not back yet?"

Steven shrugged, smiling. "It happens all the time. Sometimes they disappear for days on missions. But they always come home, and I have the whole town to keep me company. And now I have you, too!"

"Steven, I…" Lapis turned away. "I don't think I can stay here."

"What?! Why not?"

"Because I'm not like the Crystal Gems." She argued. "I don't belong on Earth!"

"So…are you going to go back to Homeworld, then?"

"No, I can't go back there, either." She snapped. "I can't go anywhere! I…I don't belong anywhere." Pursing her lips, she stared out at the ocean. "I'm all alone."

The two fell silent. Lapis closed her eyes, opening them again when she felt Steven's hand touch hers.

"…You have me." Steven told her sincerely. "I mean, we're summer fun beach buddies. Right?"

The pair locked eyes, Lapis welling up with anguish. She broke their gaze first, unable to stand another second of Steven's innocent smile. "Steven—"

"Look, I may not know what happened back then or how you got stuck in the mirror, and I don't know much about other gems, but…why can't you stay here? Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, they're good people! If we just talk to them, they can explain themselves and you can explain yourself and we can all be friends! You can stay with us! And we can eat donuts, and you can tell me stories about Homeworld, and we can protect Earth together! It'll be great."

Smiling wide, Steven took both of Lapis Lazuli's hands in his and looked closely at her, brimming with hope. "Earth can be your home." He promised. "We can be your family. Come on, what do you say? Pleeeeeeease?"

Lapis stared at Steven, his pleas tightening a vice around her chest. Stay here? On Earth? With _them?_ No. She couldn't. This wasn't her home. She didn't _want_ this to be her home. But Homeworld couldn't be her home anymore. She had nowhere to go.

"Steven…" She said finally, pulling her hands away and taking a step back. "I can't. I won't! I don't belong here on Earth!"

"What?!" Steven whined. "That's not true! You can stay here!"

"No!" Lapis shrieked. "Don't you get it, Steven?! Don't you get anything?!" The waves behind Steven began to ebb and flow with more fury than before. He looked over his shoulder to watch the surf lick the bottom of the boardwalk, sending bursts of spray up to his feet. He turned back to Lapis, tears burning in her eyes. "Your friends don't want me here. They never wanted me here! Why do you think I was in that mirror?!"

Steven paused, shocked. "H-huh?"

"They sealed me away because I'm _different!"_

A wave crashed against the boardwalk, sending Steven flying to Lapis's feet. Yelling, he landing on his stomach with a loud _oomph_ before getting back to his feet. He watched Lapis, her body tense with hate, and felt a pang in his heart.

He reached out again to take her hand.

"Sometimes when people don't understand something, they get scared." He explained gently. "And sometimes they need to see things a different way before they finally get it. They won't seal you away again, Lapis."

Lapis Lazuli tightened her fingers around Steven's hand, tears burning down her face like acid. "What makes you so sure?" She choked.

"Well, they have me now." He told her, looking up. "And I'm different, too."

Lapis looked down in disgust, but Steven pressed on.

"I'm half human and half gem and nobody knows what to do with me. There's never been somebody like me before. I think it scares the Crystal Gems a lot, because they don't know much about humans and what parts of me are human and what parts aren't, or if it even works that way. And sometimes they make mistakes, because that's what people do when they're scared. And…I think they made a mistake with you, too. You just have to give them a chance to see that."

Steven smiled. "And you know, if you think about it, the Crystal Gems are pretty different, too. They probably know better than anybody what it's like to not be able to go home. Earth has all sorts of different people. I think you'd fit in just fine!"

Lapis's eyes softened as the waves began to settle. Her lips quivered as her eyes grew misty again. "Steven…"

Her words trailed off as the ground began to rumble. Looking out at the ocean, they saw the beginnings of a whirlpool out past the pier. Before they could get near enough to the edge of the boardwalk to see, the whirlpool burst, forming a pillar of water into the air high enough to block out the remnants of the sun. Lapis looked on in terror as Steven stepped protectively in front of her.

"Oh no." She whispered.

Jasper landed hard in front of them, smashing into the boardwalk, leaving fissures in the planks. She looked up, flicking her damp hair in front of her face, and stared Steven down. "You." She growled low, her body tensing like a cat, ready to pounce. "So we meet again at last."

Steven gasped. "Jasper!" He cried, grabbing Lapis's hand to pull her away. "Come on, Lapis, we gotta go! We gotta go find Garnet and the others!"

Lapis remained frozen, her feet nailed to the ground. She squeezed Steven's hand gently. "Steven…"

Looking up, Steven met Lapis's eyes and – to his shock – found her smiling. "Huh? L-Lapis?"

"Thank you for the donut, Steve." She told him kindly, and quickly shoved him away.

Steven fell back with a wail and landed hard on his back, groaning softly. "Huh? Huh?! Lapis!" He screamed, scrambling to his feet.

Jasper leapt at her, and Lapis held firm, raising her arms into the air. All at once the ocean regained its fury, crashing onto the boardwalk and flooding the area. The water rushed to Jasper's hands and feet, binding her.

She let out a howl, and Lapis sneered, launching herself in the larger gem's direction. She wrapped herself around Jasper's shoulders, and the ocean water began to swallow them, enveloping them completely as their bodies started to fuse.

"Lapis!" Steven shrieked, taking after the two gems. "Lapis, no! Lapis Lazuli!"

He threw himself at the bubble of water Lapis had formed and tried to dive in, but was shoved back to the ground.

"No, Steven!" He could hear Lapis's voice yell, "It's okay! Really! Just let me do this for you!"

"Lapis, _nooooo!"_ Steven howled, tears streaming down his face. "Don't do this! I don't want you to go back to the bottom of the ocean again!"

With a growl of effort, the ocean water lifted the two gems into the air, the pair contorted by Lapis's fusion efforts. Jasper shrieked with rage, struggling to escape the grip of the sea, but Lapis held firm and dragged her down below the water.

" _Lapis Lazuli!"_ Steven sobbed, following after them to the edge of the boardwalk.

"Just go, Steven!" Lapis's voice echoed. "Please, just go! Steven! Steven!"

" _Steven!"_

Steven Universe woke with a terrible start, sitting bolt upright on the beach. Surrounding him were the Crystal Gems, each looking worried. His face felt damp, his chest burning.

"H-Huh?" Steven mumbled, panting.

"Steven, are you alright?" Pearl asked, touching her fingertips to her face in concern. "What were you doing out here sleeping? You're going to get sick."

"Wh-what? No! I wasn't sleeping!" Steven cried. "I…I mean I was, but then I woke up! And Lapis was here! But Lapis, she…she's at the bottom of the ocean! We gotta go find her!"

"Uh, we already knew that, dude." Amethyst pointed out. "She's been at the bottom of the ocean forever."

"No!" Steven wailed. "She came back! She was here! We ate donuts together! But Jasper came, a-and—"

Garnet placed a finger over Steven's mouth. "You were dreaming." She explained calmly. "Steven, it was just a dream."

Steven's shoulders fell slack at his sides. "I…I was?" He asked, his voice cracking. "It was just a dream?"

Garnet nodded, and got to her feet. "We still haven't found them." She told him. "We're going to look again tomorrow. Why don't you come with us?"

Steven eyed her in surprise. "Really?" He asked. Garnet flashed him a small smile.

"I told you to rest today, and you did. You followed orders like a responsible Crystal Gem."

Pearl smirked. "More responsible than Amethyst, even." She added haughtily.

Amethyst shrugged. "I can't even argue." She admitted.

Steven smiled, chuckling weakly, and nodded. "Okay. Yeah! Let's look for her together!" He said, pumping his fist in the air.

Garnet nodded, still grinning, and ruffled his hair. "Tomorrow." She reminded him, and started for the house. "For now, I think it's time for Lonely Blade VI."

Amethyst jumped to her feet, hands in the air. "Whoo-hoooo! Movie night!" She cheered, racing after Garnet. "Are there gonna be snacks?!"

Pearl rolled her eyes and got to her feet as well. "Oh, honestly." She complained as she followed, pausing when she noticed Steven wasn't following her. "Steven?"

Steven looked down at the sand at his feet, and saw a crudely drawn image of Lapis's face smiling up at him. He smiled back, and turned tail to follow Pearl.

"Coming!"


End file.
